


Ink's Dead And Error's Writing Fanfic

by Parspicle



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Drowning, Epic partying(tm), Ink's a band kid and error's a huge fuckin NERD, M/M, SO, Swearing, There may be Errorberry who actually knows at this point, There's literally like 4 canon things in this fic and thats it., This whole fic is just a huge clusterfuck of teenage emotions and ships, at least one person in this fic does a seance!, he didn't sign up for this shit, not me thats for fucking sure, poor error, seances, uhhh lots of undecided shit, yeah - Freeform, you read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parspicle/pseuds/Parspicle
Summary: They're high school students, Ink literally dies, forgets how he died, and tries to figure it out. Meanwhile, Error's the victim of his haunting, while he's just trying to write his damn fanfiction. The chapters are shorter than Ink's lifespan.





	1. A Beginning to the Madness.

It’s a sunny, sunny day at school. His stupid, rainbow-tipped hair shone in the light, and his smile shone the same. He jumped up and down, and his hair bounced with him. He looked like the stars shining in the night.

And, god, Error couldn’t resist this stupid-haired fool. He just loved to stare at him and smile.

Error, that’s what stalkers do.

He shook the thought from his head and went back to what he was doing. He goes back to what's important.

He had to stay after school, so he just went back to his homework, not looking at the cutest guy in his school. He was having trouble on this one particular problem. Math, of course. He just sighed and stared, when, suddenly, a gloved hand waved in front of his eyes.

Error’s head snaps up to meet who it was. It was, of course, the guy he had been staring at. He waved.

“Hiya! I like your glasses- they make you look like a huge fuckin nerd. Are they like three inches thick? You look incredibly fuckin blind.”

Error was _shocked._ Never in his life has anyone been so blunt to him. Granted, he was a loner and never really had friends, so maybe that’s what people normally do? He didn’t know. He’ll probably never know because this is the day his life went all the way downhill.

The shy, glitchy high schooler managed to stammer out, “Uh, h-hi,” and nothing else, being more amazed by the small, bold person in front of him.

The bouncy one started to ramble. Error only caught glimpses of his speech, like his name, Ink, and various things about who he was.

A band kid.

A flute player.

An artist.

And very, very curious.

He wouldn’t just. He _couldn’t_ stop asking all these questions that Error couldn’t answer.

Honestly? Error _loved_ it. He loved how the artist rambled about all his passions and all the questions he had.

Soon enough, however, his two friends, Dream and Blue, came over to drag him away. Their ride was there.

While he walked away, waving, Error got a message.

_“Hey nerd, I’m here.”_

Wow. Geno had gotten there early then. That’s his cue to leave the stage. Error puts away all of his stuff, shoves his phone into his pocket, and leaves.

Oddly enough, he hoped he never had to talk to Ink like that again. Maybe next time he could be more confident.

Even odder was the feeling that he couldn’t exactly place.

The feeling that told him something was about to happen.

Something bad.

Involving _him._

And Error was terrified.


	2. Ink dies.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink dies!

Ink couldn’t see. Or think. Or hear.

What the hell is happening?

Where was he?

A couple of seconds later, the air cleared.

He blinked. Water. Everywhere. He’s half dressed. High heels. And, instead of his shorts, a chiffon skirt.

Memories came flooding back.

_Shit._

_Water. Heights. Was I drunk? I remember being alone. God, what the hell did I do?_

Ink looked around. The last thing he remembered was being at the party, and something to do with water, but…

He gasped, shocked at his surroundings.

_Okay, what the actual fuck is this place?_

It was… heavenly, to say the least. It was bathed in golden light. It had everything that could ever make him happy. Pictures of his parents, art supplies. Pictures of his friends. Even all the entries of journals and notes of other people he’d ever taken or written down are all there…

Wait, that’s impossible.

He picked up a journal and skimmed through it. He picked up another. Skimmed.

He couldn’t help but sputter out, “Wait, wait, I- I could’ve sworn I- I burned these!”

Every memory he had ever had. All of them. All written out for everyone who could read to see.

Er. Everyone who would ever be in this room.

Finally, he noticed the corner.

Oh dear god.

He couldn’t bear to think what was in that corner. All his feelings he’d shoved down and out of his mind for the longest time. Every good thought about him. Every  _thought_. 

About _him._

Ink, unable to bear with the simple thought of the word that was basically plastered all over the walls of that corner, ran. Or tried to.

His next thought was how there aren’t any doors in this room. None to a closet. None to a bathroom. None to anything.

He, instead of throwing up the usual paint, threw up water.

“what in the fuck- Am I  _de- I drowned.”_

It was more of a statement than a question. He had connected the dots. He was just sorta saying his thoughts aloud.

Ink’s mind raced. What was he supposed to do? Scream? Cry? Call for help? Laugh? What was _that_ in the corner? What is this place? Was he in Hell? Or Heaven? Was he supposed to wear these stupid, torn up clothes his entire life? Or death?

_Can I die in whatever this place is so I don’t have to wear these clothes?_

His rambling thoughts were interrupted by a throat being cleared. He turned, looking around. There was nobody there.

“Hello?” His voice shook with terror. Was he really there alone?

He knew he wasn’t.

The voice appeared.

It was a small child, looking about ten, popped out of nowhere behind the short flutist.

“Hi there!”

Ink screamed. I mean, he expected it, but it still surprised him. He turned, almost chopping off the kid’s head with his hand but… it went through their neck.

“What the _fuck_ dude I’m _trying_ to welcome you to the fucking _afterlife_ so you can be okay for the rest of your goddamn existence and aren’t _entirely_ confused and you try to fuckin _kill_ me?“

“ _Why_ would you _sneak up on me_? And who are you? Where am I? Am I really dead? Was the last thing I ever said to my parents really ‘that’s gay’? Was that _the end_ of my life? Do I never get to-“

“Ink, _calm down._ I won’t tell you anything until you sit down and calm down.”

Ink does as he was told. Well, he was stuck in this situation. He sat on the couch, across from the kid. He started looking at the kid in detail after calming down. They had giant, black eyes. They wore only monochrome. A monochrome striped sweater. Grey shorts. Even their hair and skin were different shades of grey.

They looked like a void.

Then, they started to explain what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, it's Core!Frisk. They're God now.


	3. Error Loses his Mind.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error tries to write fanfic.

Error slammed his head into the keyboard.

Hours and _hours_ of work had been lost. Are you _serious??_ He could’ve sworn he had saved and then his damn computer crashed. He’d probably have to fix it himself.

He had just gotten to the good part, too! The biggest part of the adventure. The newest character had shown up, the love interest was devastated, the main character had died for the third time, and _all_ of that progress was lost.

Damnit. Why’d he have to run just _one more_ application? If he _hadn’t,_ the stupid thing wouldn’t’ve crashed.

His mom called from downstairs.

“Error, kiddo, you okay? I heard that head slam from down here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. My damn computer crashed.”

“Ah, right. How many apps were you running this time?”

“It was just five!”

“Why would you need _five_ open?”

“Whatever! It doesn’t matter!”

Error went back to trying to recreate what he lost. He didn’t remember the exact words he said, but he had lost three chapters. Three chapters of eight pages each. He could just tell his readers that it crashed but…

He shook off those thoughts. He couldn’t focus on other things right now. He had to fix it.

After a half hour or so, his mom knocked on the door and peaked her head with the pink hair she kept up so incessantly.

“Fresh and Geno have already headed to bed. Be sure not to stay up too late, okay? I know it’s Friday, but you don’t want to be running on just an hour of sleep. Don’t want to let those readers of yours down because you didn’t post on time because you forgot to sleep!”

Error pulls the fluffy blue blanket wrapped around him tighter.

“I won’t, I won’t. Fresh has therapy tomorrow, right? It’s the day when they come to our house, right?”

“Yep and yep! Don’t want a random stranger to see you laying face down on the couch in your pajamas, right?”

“Mom, he doesn’t care. I don’t care.”

“Fine. Just get some sleep! I might be planning something for you and Geno tomorrow!”

“Mom no-“

“Mom _yes.”_

Error sighed and rolled his eyes. He goes back to typing. “Whatever. Goodnight, Mom.”

“G’night Error! Sleep well, kiddo!”

Error waved as she left his room. Now, back to the topic at hand.

He put his hands on his keyboard, trying to remember what had happened next, and…

“Woah, was that your mom? She’s pretty cool!”

Error froze and turned around. He knew exactly who it was; he knew it the voice. But why would _he_ be in the room?

Right behind him stood a shorter, long-haired guy. He had half his head shaved, his eyes changed, and he had Vitiligo, as most versions of him did. He stood there, smiling his half smile, and wore a peculiar outfit- but not for the flutist’s tastes. Lots of layers. However, contrary to his usual outfit, it was more loose, less colorful, and more angelic.

Most noticeable was the fact that Error could see through him.

Error blinked. Then ran out of the room.

_“Hey, wait! You didn’t even let me explain why I’m here!-”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here he is.


	4. Error Doesn't Listen To His Mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error talks to his mom, then ignores her advice right after, even though he asked for advice.

Error ran directly to his mom’s room. She’d know what to do if he was hallucinating, right?

He skidded to a halt at the door frame- “So, uh, Mom, when’s my next appointment again?”

“Oh, with your therapist? Next week, I think, why?”

“Nothing- it’s just. I think I’m hallucinating?”

“Oh dear, uh- have you taken your meds yet?”

“Yep, I took them right before dinner, like I always do.”

“Can you get the bottles for me? There may be side effects that I glanced over.”

Error nodded. He went to the bathroom, grabbed the pill bottles, and, while ignoring the ghost who’s been floating next to him the entire time, went back to his mom. He handed the little, semi-translucent pill bottles to her, waiting for her to have read the side effects.

“Well, I don’t see hallucinating anywhere on here. Anything going on that might cause you to hallucinate?”

“Well, I did talk with someone new today…”

“Really? That’s great!”

“The thing is it’s the same guy I’m hallucinating.”

Ink piped up, but only for Error to hear.

_“Oh right, we did talk! But you realize I’m not a hallucination, right?”_

“Mom, _it’s talking_. And it’s saying it’s not a hallucination!”

“Well, that’s… pretty bad.”

“Yeah. No shit, really.”

“Ok, rude, I’m still your mom. Don’t be a bitch about it, glitchy child.”

“I’m sorry mom-“

_“Do you and your mom really talk like that? Holy shit that’s amazing.”_

“Mom, it’s being rude now.”

_“What?? Rude?? You’re the one who’s being snarky to your mother!”_

“Well, can you ignore it for now? I’ll call the office in the morning, it’s really late right now, kiddo.”

Error nodded. “I’ll wait. I’ll try to ignore it, but it keeps floating right next to me. And talking. Nonstop. It won’t shut up.”

“Kid, I don’t know what to say other than go to bed and try to sleep it off. Hopefully you can ignore it for now. This _is_ your first time hallucinating if I’m remembering this correctly, so it’s probably pretty weird, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Alright, just go to bed. Sleep on it and we’ll talk to your therapist in the morning, okay?”

Error nodded once again and went back to his room.

 

The ghost version of Ink still floated next to the glitchy highschooler as he sat on his chair.

_“Y’know, I’m right here. I’m not a figment of your imagination. I’m completely real.”_

Error muttered something along the lines of “why couldn’t my mom see you then” as he continued to write his fanfic, despite his mother’s words of wisdom to go to sleep.

“Well, ghosts really tend to only haunt one person, I’ve learned. Wait, am I a ghost at this point? Or a spirit? I dunno. My dads would know.”

He crossed his legs and continued to float, while he put his chin on his hands, looking up and thinking. He had a sad, lost look in his eyes, like a little boy getting separated from his parents in a supermarket, which no doubt had happened to Ink before.

Error, despite his mom’s warnings- again- finally spoke to the ghost.

“Are you really real?”

“Yep!”

“And a ghost?”

“Yep!”

“You seem to be in really good spirits for someone who just died.”

“Yep!”

“Are you just gonna respond to all of my questions with ‘yep’?”

“Yep!”

“Alright, I’m not gonna talk to you then.”

“Okay then! I’m gonna talk anyway.”

“Please don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Error really should listen to his mom.


	5. Ink talks, Error cries.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much exactly what the title says.

“Ok, so, anyway-“

“Aaaand you’re gonna talk anyway. Of course. My hallucinations are probably gonna be like the rest of my mind- they won’t shut up.”

“Ok, first off, not a hallucination! I’m real! Your cat sure sees me.”

The semi-transparent figure, who was floating near Error, pointed to the cat, which was very intensely staring at the ghost. Ink clicked his tongue at the cat, smiling. The kitten hissed and Ink made a face.

“Aw, Fofo- You’re a good boy. Just… ignore him, okay? I’m not sure if you can see him or not, but just ignore him.

Error picked up the round, fluffy cat gently. He continued to pet it while he continued to ignore the ghost and try to focus on his fics.

“I’m real, though! Anyway, if you can’t tell, I’m a ghost!”

“Wow, shocker.”

“Ok, sass recognized! But I died!”

“This is a nightmare.”

“It is not! More like a dream because _I’m_ here!”

“I’m ignoring this.”

“Ok, good! You not talking will let me talk more! Anyway, I’m dead. And _apparently_ , for some reason, I’m here! And haunting you. I’m pretty sure **you’re** the only one who can hear me. Or see me! Well, besides your cat.”

“Great! I’ll be seen as even more insane.”

“What- hey, wait, don’t say that…”

“Why? It’s true. Everyone knows that I’m unstable, or whatever _those people_ are spreading about me.”

Ink’s joking, “pleasant” mood had disappeared. He’d become more curious and worried for the person he’d kinda _had_  to be friends with, seeing as the glitchy dork was the only one who’d be able to see him. _For now._

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, please! You can’t be that ignorant, can you?”

“Ok, that’s just rude.”

“So you _don’t_ notice how I’m alone? Always? Even when you came up to me earlier today? You’re in, what, five outta six of my classes and you don’t notice how I sit in the back? Or how everyone mocks me? Stars, you’re more blind than me.”

“I… I didn’t notice that, did I? That’s…”

Ink had kinda been stunned to silence, blinked in shock with a touch of sorrow. Meanwhile, the writer went back to his screen. Ink noticed, barely, when Error wiped away tears.

“Whatever, it’s not like I care.”

He growled slightly in frustration at his screen. He deleted a paragraph or two, trying to rewrite what had happened. He ended up writing the same thing. He repeated the action, this time writing a little more intensely. It fit the mood of the scene, after all.

After a couple of minutes of his silence, Ink decided to investigate. He floated around the room, looking at various things.

Then, he decided to put his arms on Error’s head.

Error glitched. A lot. He almost crashed. He did. For three seconds. Enough time for Ink to have read the first paragraph.

“Hey, this is pretty good! You’re a good writer!”

“Mhm.”

“I think I recognize your style. Your writing style, I mean.”

“Mhm.”

Ink blinked.

“Hey, wait a minute, are you Justaglitch on Tumblr? Or ao3?”

At that, Error went quiet. He shut the laptop, let the cat go, got up, and went to the bathroom, phasing through Ink’s arms. 

“Ok. This is enough. I’m listening to my mom now. I’m not listening to this anymore. Clearly, I’m just going insane.”

And at that, Error took care of what he needed to do and shut off the lights, letting his kitten curl up on his chest.

Now, it was time for Ink to explore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "I don't want Error to cry!"  
> Also me: this.


	6. Ink explores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink explores and goes to find his friends and family, and check up on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Sad(TM)

Ink flew.

He flew out of the house and almost into the stars.

“Woahwoahwoah-“

He stopped himself from flying directly into space, flailing a bit. He looked around at the neighborhood, which seemed familiar.

_Ah, there was the reason why._

In the distance, just down the road, there was a quaint, smallish house. It was decorated with lights, and was very… charming.

It was his own home.

He floated there. It seemed what was ages, but it was only moments.

He phased through the walls of the house.

Into his room.

Everything was intact.

His bird, Casper the Cockatoo, was asleep.

His sketchbook lay open on his bed, with the unfinished sketch of the glitchy writer there for the whole world to see.

He decided to close the book.

After exploring the room he left intact, he left.

Into the hallway.

And then, to the living room.

And, lo and behold, there were the two old men he called his dads, cuddling on the couch.

Aster and Gaster.

He sat on the couch next to them, watching them talk with sad eyes.

“Oh, our little Inkblot should’ve gotten home by now, shouldn’t he? He said he’d be back before ten… it’s almost midnight, Gasty.”

“I know, Aster, he probably just lost track of time.”

_If only they knew._

“But what if something bad happened?”

“Nothing bad happened to him, I promise. We’d _know_ , okay?”

“But what if we didn’t?”

“He’ll be okay, Aster.

The two men embraced, hugging the fear and anxiety out of each other, hoping and praying to whomever that their son was okay.

Ink reached out to them, almost touching them. He pulled his hand away before he could.

_Not yet, Ink. They’re superstitious, they could tell if you were there. Wait until they find out._

The voice that scolded him might’ve been his own, or it might’ve been the kid from earlier’s voice.

Ink shook his head, unable to deal with being in the same room as people he’d never be able to talk to again.

He took his sorrow and left.

He ran. Even though he didn’t have to, he ran from the house. He cried.

He couldn’t say sorry to his parents. He couldn’t tell them that he loved them. He couldn’t _talk_ to them. Ever.

They couldn’t see him. They couldn’t say good morning. Or anything.

And that hurt him so, so much.

He cried. He cried everything out. He had so, so many regrets. He couldn’t do _anything_ about it now.

 

After an hour, he stopped. His tears stopped. He couldn’t cry anymore. Which was… weird, to say the least. His tears usually stopped after half an hour. It’s not like his tear ducts were _dry_ , per se, but he just… couldn’t cry anymore.

He got up. He pried himself off the pavement where he’d been lying. He walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Until, somehow, he got to a friend’s house.

Dream’s.

He went in, hoping for something _other_ than sadness.

He didn’t get what he hoped for.

Dream was smiling a bittersweet sorrow. He stood in front of a shrine. A shrine, upon further inspection, which was for Ink. Blue stood with him, with a sad, sorry look.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save you, Ink.”

“I’m sorry we went to that party in the first place.”

In moments, the room was filled with “sorry”s and regrets. Things that couldn’t be taken back.

Ink left once again, unable to handle any more emotion. He couldn’t handle it. _He couldn’t handle it._

So he went back to Error’s house. The one place where he didn’t have to feel sad.

_He didn’t want to feel any more sadness._

_He didn't want to feel._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing this at my Grandma's house and almost burst out into tears while writing.  
> I should.  
> Not be writing angst.


	7. The Title Of This Chapter In My Doc Is “Well Fuck”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error makes breakfast, talks to his mom, and Ink's a smug bitch.

To Error’s dismay, Ink popped back into the house when he woke up.

To Ink’s dismay, Error tried, once again, to pretend he didn’t _really_ exist.

Error got up, got dressed, ignored Ink’s bickering and sass, and went downstairs, mostly to tell his mom that he was still hallucinating.

“Mom, it’s still here.”

“Oh— really? I’ll call him. Thanks for telling me about this, kiddo.”

Error nodded, then made himself breakfast. Eggs in a frame.

And of course, some for his brothers. He wasn’t going to let them starve, after all. They didn’t know how to cook without burning the house down. As the middle sibling, Error _had_ to take care of them- Geno was busy, and Fresh would burn the house down.

The eggs in a frame ended up on the counter waiting for his brothers who, unlike insane people, actually slept in on weekends.

Ink decided to float around.

_“Hey, wait, do I need to eat if I’m dead?”_

“Oh, by the way, Error—“ His mom cut in— “I looked it up last night. Have you tried telling it to go away or distracting yourself? Try listening to music or maybe Fresh can convince you to watch cartoons with him?”

Error sighed dramatically. “ _Fiiiiine,_ I’ll watch cartoons with Fresh.”

“Thank you!”

_“Wow, you sound really done. Is your brother really that bad?”_

“Mom, it’s making fun of Fresh.”

His mom laughed as she flicked on the television. She tossed the remote to Error. He barely caught it and started going through the channels.

Error’s mom went on her phone, scrolling to the therapist’s contact info and deciding to text instead.

“Oh- kid, when did your hallucinations start again?”

“Around... eight or nine?”

He struggled to find the cartoon channel. He stumbled upon the news channel and froze.

“Who does he look like, again? The guy you talked to?”

“Mom...”

“What is it?”

Error slowly pointed at the tv, staring in shock.

His mom looked and almost dropped her phone.

“Oh, _stars...”_

The screen was brightened with a bold, kinda colorful headline from the local news. It had a picture of Ink with two men cropped out. He looked happy.

**Local** **Teen, Ink Zephyrtop, found dead in the water.**

The screen also had his time of death (8:30) and cause of death, as well as various details of his death.

Error fell onto the couch.

“Oh goodness- Error, honey, I’m so sorry...”

“That’s... that’s the person I’m hallucinating...”

“Oh, Error, you poor thing. I’m...”

His mom didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. The two were silent. And still.

_“I told you I wasn’t lying.”_


	8. Shock and Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error crashes, and it's more lighthearted for a while.

The two stood like that for a minute, just staring in shock at the tv. The ghost continued to float- obviously- and gloat.

Floating and gloating _was_ kind of his style when he was alive, too. Sitting like a gargoyle on top of the band room lockers, climbing trees and having the teachers yell at him. He even climbed on top of one of the buildings once and just… crouched there. For hours. He threw several pencils at Nightmare. Mostly because he’d keep forgetting that he did it several seconds earlier.

God, why did Error have to fucking fall in love with _him_?

He was so obnoxious and sassed everyone he could. He was… pretty much a normal band kid. He was kinda mean. At the same time, he was really, really nice. To certain people. He treated people who wanted to better themselves with respect and was really supportive of them.

His entire group was kinda like that.

They were all kinda… cryptids.

Ink was no different when he was dead.

He still perched on things up high and bugged people (only Error now) a lot.

But he was still Ink.

 

Before he knew it, Error had collapsed and crashed on the couch.

And Fresh had been poking him. A lot.

Error screeched.

“Get OFF of me you _GREMLIN_.”

The brightly-dressed gremlin screamed and ran behind their mom.

“Error! Stop yelling at your brother!”

“Get him to stop _fucking_ touching me!!”

“Watch your language, he’s _ten.”_

_“But he’s still a demon.”_

“But he’s also your brother.”

“Ok, Mom, I get your point. He’s my brother, so I should respect him. But consider this: _Fresh is literally a demon._ ”

Error’s mom tried to stifle her laughter. And failed.

“Error, oh my stars! Don’t be so mean to your brother!”

“What? You’re laughing about it!”

Their mom laughed still, trying to wave it off and cover her mouth. It wasn’t working and she was only laughing harder.

In moments of Fresh appearing, the negative atmosphere was gone. The tv was switched to cartoons, and the news was forgotten.

Ink was floating still, smiling warmly at Fresh. He was an only child, but he _had_ always wanted a little brother.

Ink, no abducting the child.

Fresh looked _directly_ at Ink for a moment, took off his sunglasses, looked again, and saw nothing. He shrugged it off and went to take the plate of egg in a frame from the counter that had been sitting there for just a few minutes.

Their mom came over and took the plate. She put it in the microwave and heated it up.

Fresh was almost his mom’s height, so the help was appreciated, but unnecessary.

The rest of the morning was peaceful. Geno ate, hugged their mom bye, and went off to whatever the hell he did all day. He always kinda just disappeared.

Like a ghost.

Speaking of ghosts, the one currently visible to Error was gone. Again.

He was floating somewhere outside, going _anywhere_ but the house of the happy family he ended up invading.

And, as soon as he got more than a block or so away…

_Bloop!_

He was back at Error’s.

_“Damnit!”_

Error texted his mom.

**Mom, the ghost swore :(**

**:) Tell him to watch his language.**

_“Ok, Error? I can see your texts.”_

Error snorted.

Fresh stared at him. Error went back to his phone.

**So, you’re not gonna tell your brother?**

**Nah, he has middle school to deal with.**

**Good point!**

Ink, who had just realized that he’s a fucking _ghost_ , and nobody could scold him for pranking anyone, got some really, really bad ideas.

**Mom the ghost is making a really evil expression**

**Oh no, is he going to possess anyone?**

_“I am NOT the type of ghost to possess someone! Who do you think I am, Nightmare??”_

**The ghost says no**

**What’s his name?**

**You saw it**

**Ink?**

**Yep**

**Any nicknames ;)?**

**MOM**

Error could hear his mom laughing from the kitchen.

**You should probably talk to him if he’s an actual ghost.**

**Why would I talk to a ghost**

**Because he’s nice! He’s not going to possess any of us :)**

**mom oh my god**

**LOL**

Error rolled his eyes, kinda laughing at his mom. Ink’s expression had shifted from an evil smile into a confused kitten-like face, staring at Fresh and his cartoons in wonder, like a child watching their parents work on a huge project, or a beginner watching the master work.

Weird, considering Fresh was just a kid. A normal one, for the most part. He was just a kid. And Error’s little brother, so actually, scratch that entirely, he’s a gremlin!

_Ohhhhh…_

Ink probably didn’t have anyone younger than him in his life. Or shorter. But Fresh _really_ didn’t count as shorter.

God, how was he so tall as a _middle_ schooler?

Error sighed. Then got up.

“Mom, I think I’m gonna go on a walk.”

“Okay! Don’t become a ghost!”

“Haha, hilarious.”

_“You realize I have to go with you again, right?”_

“I’ll… hopefully not go completely insane.”

“Alright, kiddo!! You have fun!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I've been avoiding writing these characters because of A. I've been writing like 5 different stories I haven't posted, B. School's kicking my ass again, and C. My mom reads my fanfic and she said to me the other day "I think your kink is smartassery" and I CANNOT stop thinking about that and it's been ruining my ability to write because I realized it's really accurate.  
> send help :(


	9. Just A Little Walk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error and Ink go on a walk, and they cross paths with another two friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just... note that I used this chapter to vent a little more than the others, so it might be a little more emotional than the others?

Error and his floaty friend stopped for a bit in a park. He’d taken this opportunity to take a couple of breaths, and, hopefully, try to ignore the ghost.

Who, by the way, would  _ not stop _ chatting the  _ entire _ time they were walking. 

So, Error stopped, mostly in hopes of him shutting up. 

It didn’t work.

Error just sorta sat on the park bench, partially listening to him talk, but mostly looking around anxiously. 

_ “Ok, but being dead isn’t half bad, honestly! I mean, it’s mostly so I don’t have to deal with drama, or trying to keep low brass together even though I’m not even a PART of their section- god, I wish they’d get their shit together **without** the help of another section. They could easily solve their problems if they’d actually TALK to each other instead of talking the upper winds’ ears off about their bitching- oh, wait…” _

The irony of that sunk in for Ink for a minute. Then, of course, he forgot about it and continued talking. There was nobody else to talk to, really, so what could he do? 

Error continued to watch the surroundings. He was supposed to be out here to help him chill and understand the situation more, but… 

Things like this never really worked for him.

Neither did they for Ink.

Ink continued to get more anxious each passing moment. 

And more anxious.

And more.

And more. 

Error sighed, realizing that nothing was happening besides Ink chattering for hours on end, and got up. He looked around for one last time, noticed a pair of people, then started to walk away.

_ “Hey, wait a minute, that’s- Oh! That’s Dream and Blue! You should go say hi!”  _

“No.”

_ “What? Why not?! They’re cool!” _

“To you, sure, but I’m sure they’ll just see me as some kind of stalker.”

_ “Pshaw- no they won’t!”  _ Ink thought for a second.  _ “Wait, actually, they might.”  _

“That’s my point.”

Ink started to try to push against Error. It didn’t work, of course, because when Ink tried, he just fell through Error and onto the ground.

_ “Ow- C'mon! It won’t be that bad!” _

Error froze. He glared directly at Ink, not really caring if others thought he was insane and just glaring at the air. He walked faster. “ _ Don’t _ touch me.” 

Even though Ink  _ was _ a ghost, his touch still affected Error. While not as much as someone who’s alive, it still stung. 

Ink, not fully understanding the situation, huffed. He sat up and glared back at Error. 

_ “You don’t have to be rude about it.” _

“If I’m not rude, nobody will  _ get _ it. Nobody will  _ respect my boundaries _ if I’m not rude about it. Don’t you get it? This is the world we live in, Ink.”

His voice had kinda gotten louder. It was laced with tones of darkness, woven with anger. He’d clearly gone through  _ something _ involving this.

Ink, luckily, picked up the signal.

_ “Alright, I’m sorry.” _

“Fine.” 

Unluckily for Error, Dream and Blue had been walking in his direction slowly, and, also unluckily for him, had heard him say Ink’s name.

Blue heard and processed it first. He burst out, unable to contain his emotions. 

“Did you say  _ Ink?!” _

“Um—“ Error spun around, kind of shocked that there was someone behind him. “No- I mean, um. Maybe? No?—“

“You did, didn’t you?!” Blue ran up to him, grabbing his hands and pulling them in between the two of them. Blue looked into Error’s eyes, kind of desperately. “Why were you saying that name? Do you know anything?! Please, you  _ have _ to tell me!”

Error proceeded to crash. And glitch. And do everything he could to get out of the situation. The ghost sorta just watched everything unfold. He gently put his hand on his friend’s shoulder- or tried- in hopes of calming him down.

Dream, however, came to the rescue. “Blue, hold on-“ He pulled Blue away from Error, realizing that he was not having a good time. “-I know we’re supposed to be asking people if they knew anything, but, really, you can’t just run up to people and grab them like that. Especially not people you haven’t talked to since  _ kindergarten _ .”

Blue didn’t calm down. Quite the opposite, actually. He became  _ more _ hyperactive and worried. 

“But Dream, what if he knows something important?! What if he’s the key to figuring out what happened to Ink?!”

“Blue, calm down. It’s not  _ exactly _ our job. We’re doing as much as we can to help, but we might not find out what happened. Especially not if you keep running up to people and scaring them. I mean-“ Dream gestured to Error, still glitching out and trying to come back to actual existence. “-look at him! Does he look okay?!” 

“No, but… Dream, what else can we do?!”

“We can ask people,  _ calmly _ , if they know  _ anything _ about what happened to him.” 

Blue opened his mouth to counter Dream’s point, then realized he was probably correct. 

“Fine…”

Error slowly came back to the real world, taking deep breaths. Luckily, Dream managed to hold Blue back from touching him again.

The first thing Error said, of course, was, “What the  _ hell _ ?”

“I’m really, really sorry about my friend here! He just heard a friend of ours' name, and he got… weird. You see-“

“Ink died last night, right?”

“Oh.”

“I know. I think, and I, um, know I might sound  _ more _ insane than I already seem and it might seem like I’m lying, but… I think Ink might be haunting me.”

_ “Oh shit, are you FINALLY accepting the truth? Your mood changed rather quickly.” _

“He’s kind of annoying.”

Blue and Dream glanced at each other, exchanged shocked looks, and looked at Error. 

Blue broke down in tears.

“This isn’t funny, Error! That’s one of my  _ best friends _ in the  _ entire _ world you’re talking about. He’s  _ dead _ and you’re joking about him haunting you?! That’s  _ fucked _ .”

_ “Error, I think you fucked up.” _

“Wait- I’m not lying, I  _ swear _ I wouldn’t lie about this. I know I’m kind of an asshole sometimes but I would  _ never _ joke about something like this.”

Dream tried to calm his friend down while talking. “Why would you say something like that? He got  _ killed. _ Error, he’s  _ dead _ . Are you  _ really _ joking about this?!” 

_ “Wow.” _

“I told you, I’m not lying, I swear! He’s right there, just- say anything and I’ll tell you his response.” 

_ “Oh god, are you really doing this?” _

“Fine. If he’s  _ really _ ,  _ truly _ haunting you, ask him what the last thing he said was.”

_ “It was not for mortal ears to hear.” _

“He heard you, and he said ‘it wasn’t for mortal ears’.”

_ “I also said ‘to hear’, dumbass.” _

“And… judging by your expression changing, he also said something sassy?”

Error nodded.

Dream took a second to stare at Error. Then he laughed. And laughed. The laugh turned kind of maniacal. 

“You’re really, really messed up in the head, you know that, right? Do you think this is _funny?_ Hurting people who just lost one of their best friends? My best friend just got _fucking_ _murdered_ , and you’re _joking_ about it?! Even though he’s already dead, are you still stalking us?! Did you really think you were being subtle about staring at us every day? No wonder my brother hates you- not even he would stoop that low. Are you _pretending_ to be haunted by Ink, even if it could hurt people?

“I have to give it to you though, you did a good job copying his personality. You even got his whole ‘mortals’ joke! I didn’t know that you were listening in on our conversations. Good job, though, you really managed to capture his spirit and shatter ours’.”

Dream spat out his words. He glared at Error, not believing him in the slightest. 

He proceeded to drag Blue, who was still crying, away. Ink floated there, kind of in shock.

_ “They… they didn’t believe you.” _

Error stood there in shock, having just been yelled at by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old who looked like a fourteen-year-old, and one who was known not to swear or get mad at people, no less. 

Ink was also in shock. His friends, who knew him better than anyone else in the world, didn’t believe what he said. 

His  _ best friends _ think that he’s truly gone. And he won’t be able to talk to them ever again. Not through Error, who’d lost their trust, and not by himself. 

To them, he was truly gone. 

Neither of them could handle the situation. Error went home. There was nothing else he could do but go home and cry. He’d fucked up his chance to actually try and help Ink. Probably what would be his only chance.

Or, as Ink soon found out, that was only what they thought. 

  
  



	10. It's Time For a Seance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a seance, but it's not a couple of idiot teenagers trying to summon an anime girl, it's two gay old men trying to get their son back!

That day, after Error went home (dragging Ink with him), he started reading comments on the newest chapter of his most popular fic. He had certain commenters that made him feel really, really happy every time he read their comments. The type of people who would comment on _every_ chapter of _every fic_ he posted.

He also had commenters that didn’t comment often, but their comments were really helpful and appreciated.

He also had one particular commenter who would comment something snarky, then keysmash about it, then compliment the fic properly. That person would usually comment almost _instantly_ after the chapter was posted.

They weren’t there that day.

While Error was at his laptop, crying tears of happiness over comments, Ink was looking out the window, lost in thought.

Did Dream really not realize that it was him? Did they both really hate Error that much? Sure, he stalked them from time to time, but…

Ink’s mind was instantly taken off of the situation when he tried to lean on his hand, which, even as a ghost, normally he could do, and he _fell_ through his hand.

_“Um. Apparently, I’ll be right back.”_

“What?” Error looked back at Ink, finally getting his attention away from the laptop.

_“Bye, I guess.”_

“What in the world-“

Ink disappeared, leaving a bright flash of light in his wake.

 

When Ink was _finished_ disappearing, he reappeared in his own house. His living room to be specific.

He looked around and saw his dads.

“Holy mother of- It worked!”

_“Dad, Pops?! Did you do a fucking_ **_seance_ ** _on me?!”_

“Oh my god, you’re here!”

_“Oh my god, you can see me?!”_

Ink ran over and hugged his parents. Or, tried, at least. He fell right through them.

_“Damnit.”_

“Oh, you poor thing.”

Aster and Gaster looked at their son with melancholy.

_“So, off topic. I miss you a lot and I’m sorry I died. I don’t exactly know_ **_how_ ** _I died, but I’m sorry anyway. I think I was murdered. That’s off topic! Can you get my friends to realize that I_ **_am_ ** _actually haunting Error? Also, how'd you summon me? Wait- this is your first successful seance! That's amazing!"_

“Ink, oh my god, can you slow down a little?”

_“Okay, fine. Basically, I think I was murdered. Now, I think I’m haunting who was supposed to be my soulmate._ ”

Gaster laughed softly. “I pity the poor person who’s your soulmate.”

Ink snorted. _“Yeah, me too! I don’t know how I got my favorite fanfiction writer as a soulmate.”_

“Wait, okay, so, son, did you just tell us you’re haunting the kid who’s been stalking you since, what, kindergarten? And that kid is also your favorite fanfiction writer?”

_“Yep!”_

“Oh my god, Ink…”

_“It’s good to see you again! I can’t believe you performed your first successful seance on_ **_me_ ** _of all people! I had hoped I would’ve been there- well, alive- when it happened, but I’m glad I’m here now!”_

Ink tried, once again, to hug his parents.

This time, it worked.

Ink cried.

_“I can’t believe I’m here. Or that this entire thing happened._ ”

“We can’t either. Ink, I’m so glad that you’re here…”

The three continued to hug and cry. They talked about what had happened, what was going to happen, and the investigation that had been happening. They discussed everything that they’d never have a chance to again. They hugged, they cried. They laughed and smiled.

For a couple of moments, they felt _normal._

For a couple of moments, they thought they could live like this.

Then, the sun started to rise.

_“Has it really been that long…?”_

Gaster and Aster exchanged worried looks.

_“Oh no, what does_ that look  _mean?”_

“Ink, I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”

_“What?”_

“You’re going to go back to haunting Error.”

_“Wait, I don’t get to stay?!”_

“I’m afraid not.”

_“Damnit. Could you do me two things, though?”_

“Of course.”

_“The first one is staying safe. The afterlife isn’t fun. The second is telling Dream that I’m haunting Error. He’s been really rude to him, which- as we all know- is unlike him.”_

“Of course.”

_“I love you two.”_

“We love you, too.”

They shared one last hug as Ink disappeared back to Error’s house.

 

Error woke up to see his ghost friend in tears, smiling softly.

He, obviously, ignored it. Whatever Ink was dealing with, he could deal with it himself. Right? It was easy for most people to deal with their own problems.

Oh, how wrong he was, especially for himself and a certain sunny person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you comment asking how they hugged, just know this: If they hadn't hugged this chapter, I would have cried myself to sleep!   
> Can you guess what the next chapter's going to be about? I totally didn't make it completely obvious!   
> "Just let them be happy!" I say, as I continuously don't allow these characters to be happy.


	11. Visiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream drags Blue to Aster and Gaster's house for a visit.

Dream sat on his bed while dreading going back to school the next day, scrolling through the pictures of him and his friends. The friend that died, and the friend that wouldn’t leave anybody’s side.

Ink and Blue.

He sighed, closing the laptop gently. His baby dog popped up onto his bed, barking at him and smiling.

“Hey little guy. What’s up? Do you wanna go on a walk?”

In that, the puppy got excited. He hopped again, panting.

“Come on then, little guy! Let’s go find Blue, we need to pay someone a visit anyway.”

 

A couple minutes later, Dream was being pulled to Blue’s house.

“Sunny! Get back here!! You’re going to get hurt!”

Sunny, the dog, didn’t listen. He kept running and running, tugging his owner ahead.

“Sunny!!”

Dream dug his heels into the floor, trying to stop.

“Slow down!”

He did. Far too fast.

Dream stumbled forward and landed on his face, right in front of Blue’s house.

Luckily for Dream, Blue was sitting right on his porch, staring off into space.

“Dream! Are you okay?!”

Dream sat up, petting his dog and rubbing his face. “Yeah, yeah, I think so. That just… hurt.”

“Do you need a bandaid? Or ice?”

Dream checked over himself quickly, looking for any scratches.

“I think I’m good.”

Blue sighed in relief. “Good, do you want to go now?”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

 

Dream and Blue walked together down the empty street on their way to their friend’s parents’ house, being pulled along by the dog. It’d been two days since Ink died. It was about time to give his parents a visit.

“Do you think we were too hard on him?”

“On Ink? Maybe.”

“No, Blue, I meant on Error. He was just trying to make us feel better, right?”

“Oh- then no. _We_ weren’t. You were.”

“Okay, that’s unfair.”

“It is not. You _yelled_ at him. You _screamed_.”

“I didn’t! I just… warned him.”

“You did! What if he was being serious?”

“He would not have been serious.”

“He would! You don’t know him as well as I do, Dream, he wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“But he ditched you!”

“He didn’t. I did! I left him behind, Dream. He wanted to follow me, but he didn’t. He respected my boundaries. He respected _me_.”

“Blue, that’s bull. Why would Error, the one who’s been _stalking Ink_ and _joking about his death,_ be nice about this? Or are you just trying to make him look better?”

“It’s true. He’s just a guy who really wants to have friends. His only one besides his brothers- who was _me_ \- _left_ him behind.”

“Absolutely not- he could have _tried_ introducing himself.”

“He did! Several times! Don’t you remember?”

“What?”

“He’s tried to sit with us a lot. He tried to talk to us a lot. The reason he _didn’t_ talk to us more often was because you kept glaring at him! You have him dirty looks!”

“I did not!”

“You did! Weren’t you paying attention?!”

“I was!”

 

By the time the two had stopped arguing, they had gotten to the house and Dream had started to carry his small dog. They went up to the small, kind-looking home and knocked on the door.

The two old men opened the door, looking… weirdly gleeful.

“Dream! Blue! It’s wonderful to see you again! Come in, come in!”

The old men motioned for them to come in.

What they saw… shocked them, to say the least.

In the living room, there was a magic circle, a couple of Ink’s things, and a couple of odd things. A lot of magic-looking things. A lot of… weird things.

Now, although they expected it, they didn’t expect it to be so… extreme.

“What in the world…?”

The two adults exchanged looks of glee.

“We did our first successful seance! We did it!”

Blue’s ears perked up. “Really? That’s great? On who?”

“On Ink!”

Blue and Dream looked at each other, then looked back at Ink’s parents.

“What’d he say?!”

“Can you do it again?”

The dads laughed.

“He told us to give you two a message, and yes, I think we can do it again.”

“What’s the message?!”

“He told us to tell you two to stop being so rude to that one kid, what was his name…? Blunder?”

The kids exchanged another set of looks that said: “oh shit”.

“Error?”

Aster nodded. “That’s it! Error. He said that he was haunting the poor kid.”

“I’m… I think I need a second.”

Blue and Dream collapsed on the couch, trying to process. Was Error really not lying? The two old men didn’t even _know_ who Error _was_. They had always done a lot of magic, so maybe the seance properly worked?

All these questions swam around their minds like fish in a bowl.

“He had to be joking, right?”

“I told you, Dream, he doesn’t joke about stuff like this. He wouldn’t.”

Dream sighed.

“I suppose you were right, Blue.”

 

After a while of remembering what Ink meant to all in the room and celebrating what his life was, it got a little dark.

Dream checked his phone. There were about a dozen notifications from his sibling.

“I think it’s time for us to go home now, Blue.”

Blue nodded, checking his own phone and seeing the same. “Our brothers are going to beat either us or each other up if we stay out much longer.”

“True, I don’t think we would want that.”

Blue turned to Ink’s parents, who were looking over a ton of pictures from when Ink was little.

“Thank you two. For everything- being such nice people, being such great parents, and everything.”

Blue and Dream, to their shock, were scooped up in a hug.

“Thank you for being such wonderful friends to our little Inkblot. While he was still here and while he’s gone.”

The two friends exchanged smiles, looking up at Aster and Gaster.

The four hugged, slightly crying at memories and what’s been happening.

 

They went home. Blue and Dream did, anyway.

Blue got a scolding from his brother for staying out so late.

Dream got a scolding from Nightmare for not telling him where he went.

They tried to get through their emotions.

Other than that, they were happy. For the first time since Ink died. They’d gotten their worst emotions got out, and processed, and they’d been able to become safe. They were able to make themselves feel better.

They really did miss Ink, but they’d be able to cope.

They’d miss him for the rest of their lives, but they would live.

They’d be able to be nice to Error.


	12. Another Day Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day back at school since Ink died.

Oh dear god, it was Monday already. Error was dreading this. Dream was dreading it. Blue was dreading it. _Everyone_ was dreading it.

The alarm went off. Error tried to stay in bed. Ink didn’t.

He tried to pull the blanket off of Error. It was six in the morning, wasn’t it? It was time to get up!

Error groaned as the blanket got thrown off. He slammed a pillow over his head.

_“Get up!”_

“Fuck off, you’re not my mom…”

_“I know, I’m not, but you have to get up.”_

“Why?!”

_“Just! Because! Also, if you keep shouting at me, one of your brothers is gonna come in and ask why the hell you’re screaming at six in the morning.”_

“Damnit.”

_“That’s the spirit! Get up, fuckhead.”_

“Don’t call me that.”

_“If I poke you will you get up?”_

“Absolutely fucking not.”

_“Aw, what?”_

“That’s the quickest way to make me stay in bed.”

Ink sighed dramatically. He blew his hair out of his face.

_“God help me.”_

Error sighed. He pushed himself out of bed, yawning and walking to the bathroom.

 

Later, when his mom woke up, Error had his head on the table.

“Oh goodness, kiddo, do you want to stay home today?”

“No…”

“Do you want to talk? You have therapy tonight.”

“No, but okay.”

His mom sighed, sitting next to him. “It’ll be okay, kiddo. You’ve handled worse, right? You can get through this. I’m here for you.”

“Ugh.”

“Pfft- Are you sure you don’t want to stay home?”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright, get up, then. You’ve eaten, right? We have to leave soon.”

“Fine.”

Error got up, grabbing a granola bar and a couple of snacks for lunch and filling his water bottle, yawning. His mom grabbed her keys and jacket, also yawning.

 

Hours later, Error, who had managed to avoid Dream and his absolute _hell_ of a brother, was sitting, head down, in his computer science class for lunch. With the ghost next to him. While he was trying to eat.

“You okay there, Error?”

Error looked up to see his favorite teacher- Mr. S. Mr. Stars. He was the computer science teacher. And, somehow, the astronomy teacher. He never really got to teach those classes, though- nobody ever signed up. Except Error.

“Oh, yeah. Just… got a lot on my mind.”

“I can tell! You have that _look_ on your face. The Error look.”

“What’s the ‘Error look’?”

He wove his hand. “Not important. What _is_ important is that you have it. What’s wrong? You getting sad over that Ink kid?”

“No, it’s not that. If I tell you you’ll think I’m insane.”

“Kid, I’ve dealt with so many high schoolers who think they’re insane I’m pretty sure _I’m_ going insane.”

“Ha, I don’t doubt that.”

Mr. S. rose an eyebrow. “Error, you said that with less expression than a bug in some code. Not only that, you’re not eating. Do you need me to take you to the nurse?”

“What? No, no, I’m fine.”

“I highly doubt that.”

Ink realized he hadn’t said much. Or sassed Error much.

_“Wow, is this the computer science teacher? I don’t think I’ve really seen him before. He’s kind of a nerd. I see why you like him.”_

Error slammed his head into his desk.

“Woah, okay, kid. Let’s get you to the nurse. Or talk it out.”

“No, really, I’m fine.”

“You just slammed your head into your desk. For no reason.”

_“Haha, you just embarrassed yourself in front of your favorite teacher.”_

Said favorite teacher overheard Error mutter “Do you ever say anything nice, Ink?”

_“Are you_ trying _to get yourself caught like this?”_

“What was that, Error?”

“Nothing.”

“I _heard_ that.”

“Did you?”

“Error, why did you say Ink’s name? Do you need to talk?”

Error’d been backed into a corner.

“It’s nothing, I promise.”

The door opened.

Error looked back at it as it slammed behind the person who opened it.

Well, the _people_ who opened it.

Dream and Blue.

_“Oh, maybe they’re here to apologize?”_

“Does this really have to happen to me _now_?”

“Error, are you okay? Who’s the kid next to Blue?”

Error cringed as Dream and Blue ran over.

“We need to talk.”

“What?”

Blue grabbed Error’s wrist and dragged him outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: Mr. Stars is an Outertale!Gaster.


	13. Dream tries to apologize.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream tries to apologize, and Blue actually does.

Error glitched out. Again.

Blue panicked.

“Shit, Dream, I think I broke him!!”

“You didn’t break him!”

“What did I do?!”

“He’s just nervous!”

Error, slowly but surely, popped back into existence.

“What in the world…”

Ink was hovering next to Error, losing his shit. He got shot a glare, and Error returned to the two.

“What do you want? You could have just asked me to step outside.”

Dream wove Error’s comment off. “This was easier!”

He got looks from both Error and Blue, as well as the one he couldn’t see.

“Ok, whatever, maybe asking you would have been easier. But it doesn’t matter! We wanted to apologize.”

“You wanted to apologize by violating my boundaries?”

“What?! No!”

“I mean, Dream, that’s kind of what happened.”

Blue looked guilty.

“Blue! Aren’t you on my side?!”

“I am! But you’re kind of being rude!”

“You were being rude too!!”

“At least I’m not yelling at him while we’re trying to apologize!”

Ink was rolling his eyes.

_“Could they be any louder? I mean,_ **_I_ ** _know I’m really loud, especially when I’m mad, but they’re kind of booming.”_

The duo kept bickering back and forth. Error stared, confused.

_“Do they really argue like this when I’m not around? I mean, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about it, but I never actually believed it.”_

The ghost looked sorry. He was guilty, wasn’t he? It was _his_ fault everything was like this. If he hadn’t died- if he was still there- everything would’ve been better, right? Ink’s two _best_ friends wouldn’t be fighting- he’d still be with his parents. Today would’ve been normal.

Ink’s silence surprised Error.

At least it told him something.

“Hey, guys, chill.”

Dream and Blue shot a look to Error. Both said, “stay out of it”.

Error shook his head. “Really, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter to me. But if you’re _really_ here to apologize, can you _please_ just do it so we can _both_ get on with our lives?!”

“Fine. Error, I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“Okay, cool, that’s _all you need to do._ ”

He didn’t know why, but Error had suddenly gotten mad.

Dream stared. He barely blinked, then started to blink faster. His crossed arms shifted as he started to laugh.

“Oh my god… you sounded _exactly_ like Ink.”

Error blinked, confused.

“What…?”

Dream continued to cackle. He snorted.

“You did!”

Error glanced at his semi-transparent friend, kind of scared and confused. Ink shrugged.

Blue grabbed Dream by the collar of his shirt.

“Sorry about this, Error.”

Error shook his head as Dream, still laughing like a madman, got dragged away.

_“What in the world…?”_

“Do you know what just happened?”

_“Nope. Not in the slightest.”_

Error looked to where Dream had been dragged off to.

To his shock, Dream was… sobbing. He had his arms wrapped around himself. His brother was next to him, rubbing his back, trying to make everything okay.

Nightmare shot Error a glare that threatened Error's life.

_“Ah, that’s the ‘stay away from my brother or I will actually kill you’ look. I’ve gotten that. A lot. You might want to go away now. Plus, if Nightmare knows I’m here too, he_ will _actually kill you. Nightmare fucking hates me.”_

“Good idea.”

Error went back into his favorite classroom and sat down, sighing and putting his face in his hands.

“Why me?”

“Error? You sure you’re okay? Are those two bullying you?”

Error shook his head.

“No, no. It’s… extremely complicated.”

“Wanna talk?”

Error wove his hand absent-mindedly. “Not really. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Error nodded. “One hundred percent. I’m just hoping to survive the day without Nightmare killing me.”

“Is he doing his thing again?”

“Yep. And I, uh, may have made Dream cry. Unknowingly, in my defense.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that kid. No matter what we do, he _somehow_ keeps coming back. I’ve talked to the principal about him- nothing. How’d you make that Dream kid cry?”

Error shrugged.

“I guess I reminded him too much of Ink.”

“Oh, poor kid.”

“Yeah.”

Blue burst in again, going up to Error. “Listen, Error, I’m so sorry.”

“What? Why for?”

Mr. S. took the hint and walked off to deal with another couple of students.

“I’m sorry about Dream. There’s no excuse for him to be treating you like this. _You_ didn’t do anything. I’m sorry that Dream’s being over-emotional and I’m sorry he’s taking it out on you.”

Error blinked.

“It’s really, really okay, Blue. It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s not! I should have been more respectful and kind to you!”

“Does everyone in your friend group apologize like that?”

“Like what…?”

“Whenever someone says ‘it’s fine’, you all refuse to say it’s fine.”

Blue blinked.

“We do?”

“Yep.”

“Has… Ink done that while he’s been… like that?”

Error nodded.

_“Okay, rude, I’m right here.”_

Blue looked away slightly, crossing his arms.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how has he been?”

“He’s… fine, I think. He’s been feeling guilty.”

“Did he tell you?”

“No, he’s just really, really easy to read.”

“Pfft- That’s my friend. He’s always been like that. When he gets over-emotional, he spills everything. Let me guess- has he been talking a lot about himself?”

Error nodded and continued to answer his questions.

The two continued on like this until the lunch bell rang, talking about Ink, events both old and new, while the ghost of the guy complained every five sentences.

“Well, I guess I gotta go! I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah- that sounds good.”

When Blue left, Error noticed a note on his notebook.

_We should hang out more! I miss talking to you._

It was completed with a little smiley face and Blue’s number.

_“Well I’ll be damned- not actually- he actually did it."_


	14. Nightmares, Anime, and Friends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error makes another friend.

_Error was running through a never-ending, dark hallway. Thoughts flooded his head. He didn’t know what he was running from, but he knew he didn’t want to be caught by it._

_Whatever it was, it growled._

_The hallway began to fill with water._

_Error ran._

_The water interrupted his movements. Soon enough, the water was too thick to move through._

_The liquid turned into stone._

_Just as_ **_it_ ** _was about to catch Error…_

 

Error jolted up in his bed, hyperventilating. He looked around.

A nightmare. It was just a nightmare.

Within seconds of waking up, the realness of the world he had been taken from faded. He forgot details and couldn’t remember much of it by the time he was eating.

He knew, however, that it was bad.

He thought back to the night before.

He had called Blue when he got home. The entire way back, Ink tried to convince him to do it.

It worked.

It went well.

They talked for a while. Ink got to see Error smile.

Error _finally_ felt like he had a friend.

 

Before he knew it, Error was at school. The morning went by in a blur.

Then, it was lunch. He tried to walk over to his usual classroom when Ink stopped him.

_“Wait, wait, stop for a second.”_

Error looked around, waiting for a moment.

_“Look!”_

Ink pointed to a guy who was treated like Error: left alone out of fear. However, Error didn’t have any idea _why_ people avoided him. He knew that he mumbled under his breath a lot, but was that really a crime?

He was Cross.

“Cross? What about him?”

_“There’s a ghost following him.”_

Error raised an eyebrow at Ink.

_“It’s true, fuckface, don’t give me that look.”_

“You insulting me won’t help.”

_“Oh shit, the ghost’s looking over at me. Hi!!”_ Ink waved.

“Fine. What does the other ghost look like?”

_“They look like they’re ten.”_

“Okay, nope, I don’t believe you.”

_“It’s_ true _, Error! For God’s sake, can you really not see them?!”_

Just as Ink had said that, Cross walked by a mirror.

In the reflection, Error saw a faint image of a ten-year-old floating behind him.

“Oh.”

_“Did you see them?!”_

“Yes.”

_“Let’s go talk to them!”_

“No, don’t you remember how we’re both the ‘freaks’ of the school?”

_“Exactly, so you’ll get along!!”_

“Nope.”

To Error’s dismay and Ink’s joy, the other weirdo was walking over, seemingly begrudgingly.

“Uh, hi…”

Error awkwardly wove his hand and tried to walk away.

“W-wait, Error!”

Error froze.

“Is it true you have a ghost following you, too?”

Error blinked, “Ah, can you see him?”

“No, but my fr- my own ghost can.”

“Oh. Right.”

The two stood in silence for a moment. Well, partial silence. Ink and the other ghost were talking, so each only heard half of the conversation.

They noticed the anime pins on each other’s bags at the same time. Error tried to ignore it, but Cross got excited.

“Oh my god, is that a Houseki No Kuni pin?!”

“Um,” Error blinked, looking away, kinda embarrassed that someone recognized it.

“It’s one of my absolute favorites! What other anime do you like?!”

Error shrugged.

_“Nani the fuck-“_

“I’ve been reading this really, really good fanfiction lately- it’s a flower shop au and Phos is an intern!! I think the diamonds run it, with Euc and Jade _really_ running the show while those three mess around!! Antarc runs the shop in the winter since there are no real flowers in the winter- The Lunarians run a competitive shop that’s like the _epitome_ of capitalism and-“

Error was standing there, growing more and more awkward by the moment.

You see, Error _had_ wanted a fic recommendation.

The thing is, the story Cross just described, in _detail,_ was Error’s.

The one he had been stuck on for weeks.

The one that hadn’t _updated_ for a month.

The one that got the kindest notes and comments. The one he had the most fun writing.

Ink was losing his shit as Error slowly lost his mind.

 

Error and Cross talked for the whole of lunch. They bonded more, talking about different series they like. Error managed to get the topic off of fanfic, but Cross kept bringing it up. They exchanged Discord usernames and talked for a while after school.

To Error’s _horror,_ Cross connected the usernames.

**Wait, “GlitchWriter”?**

**Yea**

**Oh god. _Are you the one who wrote that one fic_**

**y**

**yea**

**OH MY GOD!!!!! YOUR USERNAME FITS SO WELL**

**thank**

**BTW I’m GhostGems on Ao3 :D!!**

**ohhhhh**

**I LOVE your stories**

**thanks I like your comments**

**a lot**

**they help me write**

**im sorry for not updaing**

**_upsatinf_ **

**_UPDATING_ god**

**You’re good! You shouldn’t have to worry about the frequency you update at!! :D!!**

Needless to say, it was actually quite a good conversation. They talked more and more.

They became good friends in the span of a night.

Ink seemed to find the other ghost interesting. He kept rambling about them and how cool and peculiar they were.

Blue called Error up again, and they talked.

“I’m sorry about Dream, again. He usually can control his anger. I guess this is all just a little too much for him to handle.”

“It’s fine. It’s better than dealing with Nightmare."

"True!" 

 

Error, by the end of the night, had completely forgotten the nightmare. He closed his eyes, drifting off into the world of sleep.

His worst nightmare would appear with both eyes wide open.


	15. Dream Gets Called Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue calls out Dream on his bullshit, and Error gets dragged outside.

Okay, well, it wasn’t exactly his _worst_ nightmare.

His worst nightmare would be being trapped in an endless cycle of death and despair, watching all of his friends die over and over again, just to fail to save the person he loved the most.

Error shivered at the _thought_ of the anime. He tried to remember why he binged it in the first place.

_“Oh come on, Error, you have to! It’s a great one!!” Cross had insisted. He wouldn’t stop._

_“I’m already behind on Jojo!”_

_“Yes, but this one is more important than Jojo.”_

“There are a lot more important things than Jojo,” _Ink and Chara had said. At the same time._

_According to Ink, anyway._

_“Shut up, Chara,” Cross mumbled._

_“Are they making fun of you, too?”_

_“Yeah. But still!”_

_Cross’s sudden movement shook up Error a bit._

_“Oh, sorry- but you need to watch it!”_

Later, Ink had forced Error to actually keep the promise he made. He watched the unnamed anime.

When he was about to sleep, he got to episode three.

He tried to sleep. He really did. He couldn’t get the topic of the episode off his mind.

So he ended up binging the entire thing. And the movie.

He had also ended up texting Cross through the whole thing and crying about it.

But that was getting off topic, right? Back to nightmares and things.

 

Speaking of nightmares…

Nightmare was talking shit about Error with Dream and Blue in the room. Dream was sorta joining in, but Blue (who hadn’t told Dream he was trying to make friends with Error) was trying to defuse the whole situation.

“He’s such a dick, y’know? Why the hell would he do that to my poor little brother?”

“Maybe he’s going through something, too? He might’ve been trying to make our day a little brother.”

“Why’s he such a weirdo? He keeps talking to himself!”

“Yes, but maybe that’s how he thinks through things!”

Throughout the entire time, he was there, Blue kept getting glares from Nightmare.

“Maybe we should give him another chance.”

“No! He’s mean.”

“Nightmare, you bully people. A lot.”

“He’s just a dick to me for no reason!” Yelled the person who was a dick to _everyone_ for no reason.

“You are too!”

“Shut up, Blue.”

“You shut up! You don’t even _try_ to give him a chance! The fuck’s your deal with him, Nightmare?!” Blue snapped.

“Blue, watch your volume,” Dream hissed. He looked around, hoping their parents wouldn’t come running because they heard someone yell a curse word.

“Well, what’s _your_ problem, Blue?! You’ve been _defending_ him all this time! Don’t you remember what he did?”

“No! Nobody remembers what he did! What he did was in, what, kindergarten? Why do you make such a big deal about it?!”

Nightmare scowled, growling, “Watch it, Blue.”

“No, give me an answer! Why the hell do you two hate him so much?! He’s done _nothing to you!_ Maybe if you actually _talked_ to him, you’d realize he’s just like us and is _literally_ just a human being! Especially you, Dream,” Blue pointed accusingly in his friend’s face, “What’s your problem?! What happened to the optimistic and caring person you were?! _Normal_ Dream would have given him at least one more chance, why does he not get another chance? Why is Error different?”

Dream got upset. He started crying.

“Blue, get out.”

“Gladly! Tell me when you get off your high horse and finally realize that Error deserves a second chance.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Blue grabbed his stuff and slammed the door on his way out.

 

Back to Error.

Error was at his desk again, writing.

His mom came in and knocked on the door.

“Are you almost ready, kiddo? We’re leaving soon.”

“Shit, we are?”

Error checked the time.

“Shit, we are!”

Error got up and scrambled to get ready to go out. He got into the car last. It was time for the weekly family outing.

It was Fresh’s choice this time.

Oh no.

He was probably gonna chose laser tag or something. Error hated laser tag. He hated everything his brothers chose.

Fresh, the tallest of the three brothers (despite being the youngest) looked Error up and down. He smiled his stupid, dopey smile.

“Ey, brah, what’s with that look? You seem downskis!”

“I’m fine, Fresh.”

Geno chimed in, “I think he means you look more down than usual. Trouble with a boy?” Geno winked.

“Shut up, both of you! Why don’t you go text your stupid boyfriend??” Error pointed at Geno, glaring in a sorta playful way.

Geno gasped over dramatically, like he was an actor in a high school play. Which, for the record, he had been at one point.

“Error! Don’t call Reaper stupid!!”

“That’s what he is!”

Geno struck a pose.

“Oh, goodness, how _could_ you?”

Fresh and their mom were laughing.

“Oh my god, you two.”

_“God, is this really how siblings interact?”_

“By the way, Fresh, are you gonna tell Error and Geno what we’re doing? Or are we keeping it a surprise?”

“It’s gonna be a surprise, yo!”

“Alright, kiddo.”

“Mom, I have a question!”

“Yes, Error?”

“Why does Geno always get shotgun?”

“Because I’m the oldest!”

“That’s not fair!”

“Yes, it is.”

“Yo, Ma, can I have the shotgun on the way back?”

“What? Fresh, no! I should get it! I’m the one who asked!”

“Kids, oh my god.”

“What if _Mom_ gets shotgun and _I_ drive back?” Geno offered.

“Nope, I’m driving, kiddo. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s my car!”

“You let me drive it before!”

“Yes, but that was then! It was before you almost crashed with Error in the passenger seat.”

“Okay, _that_ wasn’t my fault!”

“Too bad! I’m driving.”

“But Mommm-“

“I’m not gonna let you crash the car, Geno.”

Geno huffed and crossed his arms.

“Don’t act like such a baby.”

“Yeah, brah, _I’m_ the one who’s supposed to be a baby!”

Their mom burst out in laughter.

“Fresh! No! Nobody’s acting like a baby today! We’re going out to have fun!”

“Aww, what?”

“Is it really going to be fun? I mean, Fresh chose.”

“Error, that’s mean. Don’t say that! Of course, it’ll be fun!”

Error rolled his eyes.

“Oh come on! We’ll have fun, I promise!”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“I am too.”

Their mom sighed as she pulled up to a parking spot.

Error looked out the window.

“God no. I’m going home.”

“Error! Come on, that won't be fun!”

“Nope, no it won’t.”

“Can you at least try it?”

Error looked at the desperate look of his mom, the pleading look of Geno, and the sad look of Fresh.

“…Fine.”

Error looked back to the building. A roller skating place. He scowled.

“Yay!”

_“What’s your problem with roller skating?”_

“Roller skating _sucks.”_

“No, it doesn’t! It’s fun!!”

“Mom, I’m gonna fall flat on my **butt**.”

_“Haha.”_

“Language, brah!”

“How the **_heck_** do you do that?!”

Fresh winked.   
“Mom I changed my mind.”

“Nope, come on.”

Error got dragged out of the car by Geno.

He tried to run.

“I’m going home!”

“No, you’re not.”

“Mom, make him let me go!”

“Come on, Error, it’ll be fun!”

“No!”

 

Minutes later, Error was on the roller rink, despite all of his protests. He slipped and fell the moment he let go of the side.

Geno, skating by, laughed and stopped, offering a hand to help him up.

“You okay there, Error?”

“Yes. I don’t need help.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

Error got up on his own, the ghost by his side laughing the whole time.

“Shut up, this isn’t as easy as you think.”

_“I’ve roller skated, you know.”_

“Really?”

_“Yeah! It’s fun. You just need to let go a little.”_

“That’s not gonna work.”

_“Yes, it will! Let go of the side, take a breath and skate!”_

“Pretty sure it’s not that simple, but go off I guess.”

Error did as Ink said.

It worked.

He skated, albeit a little shakily, and managed to not fall.

Until Fresh came along. Fresh skated up to him and scared him. Error fell again.

It was a pattern for a while. He would get on his feet, skate for a little, and end up on the floor again.

He ended up just sitting at a table for most of the night, sick of falling down.

_“You’re really not so good at that, huh?”_

“Will you quit it? It’s just not my thing.”

_“True, but your brother seemed really interested in it.”_

“Yeah, that’s Fresh.”

_“You should’ve given a little more effort.”_

“He doesn’t care. He knows I tried.”

_“Well-“_

“It’s not your business.”

Ink crossed his arms.

_“Fine.”_

“Thank you.”

The door opened, and, almost involuntarily, Error looked over.

The sight of Blue slightly spooked Error. They made eye contact and, after Blue got his skates, he went over.

“Hi, Error!”

Error wove.

“I thought you were hanging out with Dream?”

_“Oh no. I know that face.”_

“Yeah, uh, we had a falling out.”

_“Oh no.”_

“I got mad at him for some stupid reason. I usually come here when I’m mad at someone,” Blue shrugged, continuing, “Skating helps me think.”

Blue turned to look at Error, smiling, “What brings you here, anyway?”

Error gestured to his brothers, who were pushing their mom around.

“Family Outing. My little brother’s choice.”

“Which one’s your little brother?”

“The taller one with stupid sunglasses.”

“Huh.”

“He’s like six two and a middle schooler.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“And you wanna go home? Judging by the look on your face.”

“Yep! Please let me go home.”

“…You don’t know how to skate, do you?”

Error crossed his arms.

“You don’t. Okay, do you want me to teach you?”

“No, it’ll give them an excuse to make me do this again.”

“Aw, really? It’s pretty fun!”

“I’m never gonna use it.”

“Come on!”

_“Error, do it! Blue’s really good at teaching people!”_

Error sighs.

“Fine.”

“Yay!” Blue moved over to the rink, Error slowly following behind. Ink was also following, though he was floating near Blue rather than Error.

Error’s eyes kept drifting to the side- to Ink- while he was being taught to skate. He kept almost falling, then shooting a glare to his brothers, who were laughing. His mom was smiling a lot and taking photos. He glared at her, too.

“He’s right next to me, right?” Blue smiled.

“Oh- yeah, he is. He’s been staring at you this whole time, really. Kinda creepy.”

_“I’m sorry,_ **_I’m_ ** _not the one who’s creepy!!”_

“He agrees. He says he’s creepy.”

Blue laughed, “I’m sure he said that.”

He gained a sad smile as the two rode off of the rink, Error almost falling again.

“Is he doing well?”

“From what I can tell, no.”

Blue stopped, looking down a bit.

“Blue?”

“Is… is it too much for me to ask you to sit in with me, Dream, and Nightmare? For you to help me explain to Nightmare and Dream what happened?”

Error froze.

He thought back to what Nightmare put him through. How _one_ wrong move made his life a living hell. It made him get put through therapy his whole life, wrecked all of his friendships, and just…

“I can’t.”

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry for asking.”

Error nodded, still reliving everything that _beast_ put him through.

“It’s fine.”

Error rolled over to his family, not saying goodbye.

“Oh, by the way, Error,” Blue turned, looking for his friend.

Error was gone.


	16. Bonus Chapter #1: Multiversal shenanigans start.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink and Error get pulled into the great big multiverse.

“Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?”

_“One hundred percent! It’s a great idea!”_

“It’s a haunted house. You’re a ghost.”

_“Shut up! Let’s go!”_

Error rolled his eyes, messing with the strap of his bag, and went in.

“Guess I have no choice. Otherwise, you wouldn’t shut up.

As soon as he had one foot in the door, the floor disappeared. He slipped and fell into an endless abyss.

Ink was dragged with him. They both started to shout.

“Can’t you float?!”

_“I can’t pull you out of this if that’s what you’re asking!”_

“Damnit, why can’t you be useful?!”

_“I AM useful, asshat! Just not in this particular situation!”_

“Oh, SURE you are!”

Error held on his bag tightly. Ink tried to float back up to the top but kept getting dragged back to Error.

 

After a couple of minutes, Error landed on the floor. A snowy floor. It took him a minute to get reoriented.

It also took him a minute to realize that there was a fight happening in front of him. A really, really intense battle.

Error screamed and ran behind a tree as bones flew everywhere, along with string and paint.

“Where the hell are we?!”

_“I have no idea, but I think you’re about to become just as dead as me.”_

“Not helping!”

Suddenly, everything went quiet.

“Stop, stop! You saw that guy, right?”

“How the hell did I miss a human?!”

The fighting stopped.

_“Wuh-oh, might wanna stay silent.”_

“I know, shut up.”

The snow around the tree crunched. Error went voiceless. He put his arms over his head. He was terrified.

A short skeleton peeked around the tree. Error looked at him. The skeleton looked back.

“Hiya!”

The skeleton’s eyes changed.

Error screamed and backed up.

To his dismay, it was into another person.

He looked up.

This skeleton looked almost exactly like the other, except he had dark bones. While they _were_ pretty, the expression the skeleton had was a stark contrast.

He was terrifying.

Error screamed again.

Ink, the ghost, was floating above Error, watching all of this.

_“What the fuck.”_

“Shut up, Ink!!”

The light skeleton spoke up.

“Which Ink?”

“Well, it’s _obviously_ not you, slut. He doesn’t even _know_ your name.”

“Shut up, glitch.”

“Wait, what?!”

Error, the human kid, had been getting more and more confused. Who were these two?? Why did the skeleton whose eyes changed ask which Ink he was referring to? Why in the hell did skeletons **_talk_**?!

“Oh no. I think he’s gonna crash. That’s what all Errors do when they get over emotional, right? Cause you can’t handle feelings?”

“Shut up, Ink. Or I _will_ destroy them both.

_“Wait, holy shit, is he named Ink too?!”_

The skeleton smiled and winked at the ghost.

_“Can you see me?! Error holy shit he can SEE me!”  
_Error, on the other hand, was panicking. He, as one of the skeletons had predicted, crashed.

 

Error came back to the real world.

He sat up, looking around. The space he was on was golden. It had papers flying around like birds.

They were more like fish, actually. Fish swimming around a pool.

“I’m telling you, kid, he’s not worth it.”

_“Well, how the hell would you know? He’s not even YOUR Error!!”_

“I just don’t want your heart to get broken.”

_“It’s not your business anyway! Didn’t you tell me you can’t mess with the multiverse or whatever?”_

“It’s just… not worth it.”

_“My Error and yours are different!”_

Error blinked, trying to figure out what exactly happened. Or what _was_ happening. Both equally stupidly dressed individuals glanced over at Error and noticed he had awoken.

_“Morning sleeping beauty.”_

“Shut up, ghost.”

Ink the skeleton raised an “eyebrow”, glancing at his ghost counterpart. Ink the ghost glared back.

“This is gonna get confusing.”

_“The fact there’s two of us? You can tell the difference because_ I’m _cuter.”_

“I can also tell because you’re a fucking GHOST.”

_“It was a joke, nerd.”_

“Don’t call me that.”

_“Nerd.”_

Ink the ghost and Error the human glared at each other.

Error burst out into laughter.

“Your glare’s so dumb, oh my god.”

_“What- wait, no,_ your _glare is stupid!”_

“You look like an angry cat.”

_“I do not!”_

“You really do.”

_“Shut up!”_

“Make me!”

_“Oh, I will!”_

“How?”

Ink the ghost made a sudden movement in Error’s direction. Error flinched.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

_“I will.”_

“Do it and I will _gladly_ watch cartoons with Fresh the _entire_ weekend.”

_“Is that supposed to scare me?”_

“Yes, because I know for a fact you can’t go far from me when I’m awake. And I also know _exactly_ the cartoons you hate. I talked to your parents.”

_“Son of a bitch!”_

“Don’t call my mom a bitch!”

_“I’m not calling your mom a bitch, I’m calling_ you _a son of a bitch!”_

“That’s technically calling my mom a bitch-“

_“I would never! I love your mom!”_

“Of course you do! Everybody loves my mom!”

“Uh, boys?”

They both glared at Ink the skeleton, shouting, “what?!”

“You probably need to get back to your universe soon.

_“Maybe. I like being able to seen.”_

Error shrugged.

“I mean, you both need to get home soon. If _my_ Error finds out you’re still here, he _will_ kill you both.”

_“When did Error get to be such a violent person?”_

Error gestured to his bag, which held his laptop.

_“Ohhhh. Is_ that _why you write fanfic?”_

“Yes.”

_“And go to therapy?”_

“Why did you think…?”

_“For your many years of trauma and discontent with your life caused by my best friend’s twin brother harassing you daily?”_

“Dream’s your best friend? And yeah that’s what caused it.”

_“So_ that’s _why your fanfics are so damn violent!”_

“I’m so confused about your… entire mental thing.”

_“I’m more confused about yours.”_

“Everyone is. Mostly my readers.”

“Ahem- boys. You both need to go _home_.”

“Right.”

_“But this place is so interesting!”_

“I know it is, but you two really should go home. Your parents are probably worried.”

“Mom knows where I went. And Ink’s dead, so they’re probably not worried about him.”

“Your mom knows you went into a different _multiverse?_ ”

“Okay, well, no.”

“Then she’ll be worried. Come on, let’s go.”

_“But it’s so interesting!!”_

“I know, I know, but I have a job to do! And you two probably do too. Right?”

“Mom said I’m not allowed to have a job yet and _he’s_ literally dead.”

“Okay. Fine. You still need to get home!”

_“We’ve been gone for less than an hour!”_

“You still need to go home.”

“Fine. We’ll go. Soon. If you let us explore a little, we’ll go.”

Ink the skeleton raised an eyebrow.

“Really? _You,_ an _Error_ , want to explore?”

“I mean, if I didn’t at least _ask_ , this guy-“ Error pointed to Ink the ghost- “would never shut up about how I lost a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

Ink the skeleton rolled his eyes and rubbed them.

“Fine. You can explore. You get half an hour. _Stay_ in the doodlesphere.”

_“Hell yes!!”_

“Okay, cool, whatever. Might give me good ideas for fanfics.”

_“That’s the spirit, Strings!”_

Error cringed. Ink the skeleton winced.

_“Oh, come on, it’s not_ **_that_ ** _bad of a nickname.”_

“That’s _somehow_ worse than Fresh’s.”

_“Take it back! No, it’s not! We both know that!_ ”

“I will not take it back because it _is_ worse.”

_“It is NOT. Take it BACK.”_

“Haha, you’re mad for no reason.”

_“Don’t fucking test me.”_

Ink the skeleton rolled his eyes.

“Time’s running out, boys.”

“Oh, right.”

Ink the ghost floated around the doodlesphere. Error followed him, also looking at all the papers flying around.

_“There’s a lot of them.”_

“Yeah.”

_“It’s cool!”_

Error nodded.

_“Ohhh- look at this one!!”_

Ink held up a piece of paper for Error to see. It had a sketch of him (except alive) and Error, dressed kinda medievally, with Ink dressed much, much more fancily, finished off with a crown. Error had a soft smile and Ink was grinning like a joker.

“Nice.”

_“A lot of these are us.”_

“Yeah. This one is, too.”

Error held up one.

This one had Error dressed in a Victorian-style suit, looking pale but still dark-skinned. He had fangs. Next to him, Ink had a more modern outfit on. He was dressed colorfully, while Error’s outfit was really dark. Ink was smiling brightly while showing him on a phone, and Error was looking very confused and also slightly scared. There was a castle in the background that looked like it was putting itself back together.

_“Wow, nice. Hey, look, you have fangs!”_

“Nice.”

He gasped quietly.

“I should make an au where Shinsha is a vampire…”

_“I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about but hell yes.”_

After a while of Ink and Error snooping around the doodlesphere, two people popped in.

One had very coffee-stained clothes, a grey cardigan, and normal looking skinny jeans. He had a sort of sepia tone. All of the late-night, tired-looking outfit parts, along with his eyes- like Ink’s, but they only turned into punctuation marks, suggested he _might_ be a writer.

But, of course, that was ignoring the giant keyboard he had.

The other was wearing a vest, a colorful button-up beneath, and slacks. He had freckles shaped like music notes, along with eyes that changed into different music notes and symbols, all leaning towards lighter colors. He was very… blue tinted. If you added a f ~~edorka~~ fedora, he’d probably look like he belonged in a musical.

“Oh. What… _perfect_ timing.”

“Hiya, Ink!!”

The more musical-looking and sky-colored one had a sing-songy, cheery voice. He smiled gayly.

“Medley, Page, did you two _have_ to show up right now?”

“We arranged this three _hours_ ago! And I _finally_ managed to convince Toggle to introduce Dazz to jewelry making so he’d be distracted for at _least_ an hour. On second thought, I probably shouldn’t have done that. I really hope he doesn’t let Dazz eat anything. That would be bad.”

“Darn it, really?”

_“He realizes he can swear in front of us, right?”_

Error shrugged.

“We _are_ kids in his eyes, right? He’s probably as old as the multiverse.”

_“Haha, he’s old.”_

Medley finally noticed Error and his ghost Ink. His breath stopped for a moment. Page spoke up.

“Ink. Why is there two in!codes, one of them being an _Error,_ in _your_ doodlesphere?”

“Oh, right, that! Uh, here’s the thing: I don’t know!”

“What?!”

“They kinda just, uh, wandered into a different universe. Somehow. They come from one of the fan fiction universes. One of the, er.”

Medley spoke up as well, questioning, “One of the ones where you and Error are together?”

Ink nodded sadly.

Error and Ink the ghost looked at each other.

“Woah, woah, wait, no, me? With _him?_ He’s _DEAD_.”

_“Yeah, I’m not sure that’s possible.”_

Despite his protests, Ink the ghost had gotten sort of flustered.”

“Oh. I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”

“Yeah, Medley, I don’t think that should have been said.”

 

Error found himself wandering through the doodlesphere again.

There were so, so many universes.

Why were there so many?

It was amazing and wonderful, sure, but just… why? There’s so, so many.

Medley, Page, and Ink were kinda making Error uncomfortable.

_“You okay?”_

“Those three are kinda staring at us.”

_“Yeah. Hey, look at this!!”_

Ink pushed a paper towards Error.

The paper had him and Ink. Again. Error was a demon, and Ink was an angel.

This time, Error was on the floor of the drawing. Ink was standing triumphantly over him. He even had a foot on his head. Ink looked like the hero in the situation. Error, on the other hand…

“Oh.”

_“It’s cool, isn’t it?”_

“I guess.”

_“I think it’s wonderful!!”_

The two went silent for a little.

_“Hey, look at this one!”_

This one had Error and Ink, as adults, pointing guns at each other. Ink was on the verge of tears. Error was glaring at Ink. It wasn’t a very happy picture.

_“On second thought, maybe don’t.”_

“Is it really true?”

_“What.”_

“Is it really true that I’m the bad guy?”

_“What?? Of course not!!”_

“I mean, it’s being shown everywhere. The fact that _I’m_ the villain. Look at all of these. _You’re_ the hero. Everyone looks at me as if I’ve done something… bad. Something wrong.”

_“That’s not true.”_

“Have you seen them?”

_“Yes, but no! It’s not true!”_

“You don’t have to defend me, Ink. Some things are just destined, I guess.”

_“No! Things aren’t destined like that, Strings.”_

“That’s still the worst.”

_“It is not, but you don’t have a destiny like that, Error. You’re not the bad guy.”_

“How do _you_ know?”

_“I just KNOW.”_

“Sure. Whatever.

Error, frustrated, went through more of the papers.

Error blinked.

Suddenly, they were in a different place. An all-white place.

It was covered in cats.

_“no”_

“What are you saying ‘no’ too??”

_“All of this.”_

“You can’t say no, we’re already here.”

_“I want to go back.”_

“I don’t know how we got here."

_“God fucking damnit.”_

“I know you’re upset, but look at this one!”

Error held up a tiny, tiny kitten. It was about the size of his hand. He was all white and very fluffy.

“Mew!”

_“Okay. He’s cute.”_

“I know!”

_“Why is he… here?”_

“That’s a good question. What even _is_ this place?”

_“No idea.”_

“We should probably figure it out.”

Ink nodded. Error walked around, trying to figure out where they were.

“It’s kinda like a void.”

_“For sure!”_

The guy Ink the skeleton had been fighting popped up.

“The hell are you doing?”

Error screamed. So did Ink.

 

“So, you’re telling me that you and the other Ink broke up?”

_“We really should have nicknames.”_

“Yeah.”

“Yes, we should, but yeah, that’s pretty much the gist.”

_“So that’s why he’s mad at Error? Also, why haven’t you destroyed us yet?”_

“I mean, I should have, yes.”

“But you haven’t.”

“I mean, you’re another me.”

“And, being another you, I’m assuming you haven’t killed us yet because we remind you of you and your ex?”

The other Error growled a bit.

_“Not sure if that was the best thing to say.”_

“Fine. You’re right. I don’t want you to end up how we did. And it’s my job to fix his _mistakes_.”

“Ominous. But okay.”

_“What in the world does that mean?!”_

“Murder.”

_“Ohhh. Makes sense!”_

“Yes, indeed.”

“You two still need to get home, right?”

_“Probably, yes.”_

“I’m getting the feeling that Ink’s not gonna want to go home yet.”

_“You are right!”_

Error the human pulled Ink away for a moment.

“What do you want?”

_“We have to help them.”_

“No.”

_“You dragged me here!! It’s only fair that you let me force you into helping them.”_

“You are _such_ goody-two shoes.”

_“It’ll prove to the universe you aren’t a bad person. Universe?? Multiverse?? I don’t care.”_

Error looked at Ink for a minute. He sighed.

_“Is that a yes?”_

“Fine. I will help.”

_“Hell yes!”_

“I’ll only help. You have to do most of it. Let’s go back to the weird, adult, skeleton me.”

Error walked back, crossing his arms.

_“Okay, so! We’re not going home yet.”_

“What? Why?!”

_“We want to help you and the other me!”_

“What.”

“Correction: _he_ wants to help you. Not me. I’m being forced to help.”

_“Yep! We’re getting you two back together.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got really bad writer's block for this story, but then I thought back to a conversation that Stempix (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stempix/pseuds/Stempix) and I had about alternate versions of this story! The story name "Ink and Error wound up in another Multiverse and the latter is still somehow writing fanfic" got brought up, so I decided to do a little bonus chapter because I couldn't decide what exactly would happen in the next chapter!!   
> Also note: Medley and his family are my characters! Page!Ink, who I'm not sure I got perfectly, but he certainly exists, belongs to the lovely Mutated-Bunnies (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mutatedbunnies/pseuds/Mutatedbunnies)!!


	17. A Letter to Myself.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Error writes a letter to himself.

_Error, we need to talk._

Error shook his head, staring at the screen, and deleted the first message.

_Dear Error,_

_To whom it may concern,_

_Hey, Error!_

Error leaned back in his chair, sighing after erasing all three options. He had to do this eventually. How was he supposed to start this?

_“So… what_ **_are_ ** _you doing?”_

“Writing a letter to myself.”

_“Mhm, cool, why?”_

“My therapist told me to express my emotions- by writing a song, story, letter, doing art, or anything I wanted to- and writing a letter to myself sounds the best.”

_“Oooh, that makes sense! I used to do that for ADHD. Or autism. Or whatever I have. I forgot!”_

“Yeah- they said it would help me deal with… things.”

The ghost nodded, floating next to the chair. He also stared at the screen as Error got more and more frustrated.

_“Have you tried ‘Dear myself,’ yet?”_

 

Dear myself, or anyone who needs this,

Hey. It’s been a while since we’ve felt normal. Like. A LONG time. Months. Years, even!

I want you to know that it’s not your fault. You did what you could, and you did everything you could think of. Even if you didn’t do everything _right_ , you should forgive myself. Yourself? You should forgive us.

You were young. You didn’t know what to do. Even if _you_ did everything wrong, it wasn’t your fault, so you need to learn to forgive yourself.

God, I’m rambling again. Guess I gotta forgive myself for that, too!

Anyway.

You deserve a happy ending.

You’ve done everything you can, and you’ve gone through hell and back. You’re still alive, even after everything you’ve been through.

And that’s amazing.

You’re so, so strong for getting through this.

So even if you did everything wrong, stop holding onto it. You need to let it go. You know better now. You’re a good person now. You have good intentions. You’ve forgiven everyone else involved, so why can’t you forgive yourself?

You didn’t even _have_ to forgive them. They hurt you. They did bad things. They didn’t deserve to be forgiven. And you did, anyway. They made a mistake. You did too.

You may have burst out in anger, or rage, or you broke down. I can’t exactly remember what happened.

And that’s okay.

It’s okay to have emotions. And it’s okay to be mad about it.

But you can’t be mad at yourself.

I’m proud of you! You’ve been through _all of this shit._ You still manage to be creative, and you still manage to be you. You get back up every time. That’s what makes you strong.

You managed through so much.

Just a couple more months, yeah? You can get through it. I believe in you. You’re gonna get through this! You’re gonna go to the college of your dreams, you’re gonna have friends that support you- people who don’t judge you on appearances.

You have a wonderful, supportive family. They may be bratty sometimes, but they still love you. You’re you, and they accept you for that. And they’re also proud of you.

You’re so much stronger than you look. You can’t quit yet, okay? You’re not allowed to! You didn’t get all this way to just stop now.

Keep going!

Keep being you.

Keep writing.

Forgive yourself.

It was never, _ever_ your fault. You did all you could. You did all the right things.

So forgive yourself. You don’t have to apologize to yourself, or anyone else for what happened. _They_ should apologize to _you._

Remember it wasn’t your fault. They didn’t deserve you. And I’m proud of you for coming all this way.

Don’t forget how much you’ve been through.

Don’t forget to forgive yourself.

Sincerely,

Yourself.

 

_“Wow. That’s pretty good.”_

“I don’t think so. But, it helped me to get it all out.”

_“But… is it all true?”_

“What do you mean? Of course, it is. Everything I pull out of my ass has to get up there somehow.”

_“Yes, but do you believe it?”_

Error shrugged, “Maybe.” He looked back to the screen and continued to type.

 

Dear myself, or whoever needs it,

Hi again.

I’d like to add something.

You’re allowed to be mad about it. Please be mad about it! Express your emotions about it. Cry. Scream. Break things.

But don’t be mad at yourself.

You did everything you were capable of. Everything back then hurt. _Everything_ sucked ass. You probably couldn’t do much. But you did what you could.

You don’t have to feel guilty about things that you didn’t do. You didn’t have to apologize to them. It’s not at all on you. You did what you could, and that’s what mattered. They don’t deserve your respect or pain. They hurt you. So you don’t have to forgive them. Or respect them.

You’re getting so, so much better with each passing day. It’s not your fault you can’t talk about it. Hell, you don’t HAVE to talk about it.

But if you can let go of your own self-loathing, that will help you most of all. You don’t have to hate yourself.

You’re a wonderful, creative, skilled person. You’re one of the strongest people we both know.

You have people in your life that love and support you.

So don’t give up. You _can’t_ give up now.

You feel betrayed. You feel alone.

Talk to people. I know you want to. They care about and adore you for who you are. So keep going. For them.

Don’t let those people affect you.

You getting hurt wasn’t your fault. You didn’t deserve it.

Stay determined.

 

Error woke up the next day to the same document on his laptop. His family had come in and written a couple of things for him.

 

Hey, kid!

I want you to know how proud we are of you. You’ve done so much. You’ve tried so hard to get that happy ending, and it’s in reach. You’re going to do it. We love you a lot.

You’re such an amazing writer and son. You deserve everything good.

You’ve progressed so much as a person. I’m sorry I wasn’t as there for you as I should have been. I’m sorry I got busy.

I hope you know I’m here for you. You can talk to me if you want. If you just want to go on a walk without talking, I’d be happy to. If you want to do anything, tell me, and I’ll make it happen.

<3

 

Error

I’m here for you.

I’m bad at words

If you want, I’ll watch Jojo’s bizarre adventure with you and Fofo.

-Geno

 

Yo, bro

If ya wanna do something, I’d be up for it. We don’ spen’ enuff time together! Ya got busy, and that ain’t cool >:(

spend more time with ya brathers

We care about you a lot, yo. (Stop being such a dillweed about it)

𝓨𝓪𝓫𝓸𝔂, 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓱

 

Error couldn’t help but crack a smile. His smile broke into a laugh. His family members were such dorks!

He loved them a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sorta a bonus chapter? My therapist told me to write a letter to myself. And I, incapable of feeling any emotion without projecting it onto Error, decided to write Error doing the same thing. It's not really canon? but I needed Error to try and heal himself.  
> Sorry for not posting as often- a bunch of things are starting up soon.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Ink's NOT Dead And Error's Writing Fanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19008826) by [Parspicle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parspicle/pseuds/Parspicle)
  * [Overcurious](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259104) by [AlJayne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlJayne/pseuds/AlJayne)




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